The present invention relates to a method of communicating information for elevator users.
The PCT patent specification WO 00/59818 shows a device that communicates information to elevator car passengers. For the purpose of communicating information by vision and/or sound, the elevator car is equipped with a visual display unit (VDU) and a loudspeaker. In addition, sensors are provided which detect operating parameters such as the presence of elevator users, the direction of travel of the elevator car, the current position of the elevator car and/or the floor at which the elevator car is currently standing, the load in the elevator car, and the selected floor. The information to be communicated is provided on the basis of the operating parameters identified above. The information can consist of announcements, advertisements, news, pictures, moving pictures, photographs, current events, floor occupancy and/or events on specific floors, data about the elevator, etc, and can depend on the floor on which the elevator car is standing, the destination floor, the direction of travel, etc.
A disadvantage of the known device described above is that if the elevator car is quite full, not every user can receive the information because, for example, their view of the VDU is obstructed, or because some elevator users are talking and drown out the sound. Also, if the elevator is quite full, it is difficult to find the optimal selection of information for the majority of the elevator users.